Heat Wave

 

We are in the midst of a heat wave here with daytime temps in the 40s celcius ..... the other day it got to 46 degrees!  We could sure use some rain which is crazy since the north of the country is in flood! Great sunrises, and its always nice to walk down to the river early in the morning and get home before the heat builds up.

Look closely and you can see the kangaroos having a feed

Here we are in Feb but first let me do a quick recap of my projects from January since I had a few finishes which is something to celebrate and I'll take all the positives I can this year!

Being part of a group on Ravelry which has various challenges during the month to gain "house points" has helped get a quite a few of these smaller projects done - especially the dishcloths - I never seem to have enough made on hand as I give them away as gifts and thankyous, ensure both ourselves and our daughter have sufficient on hand and now has a little shop that has asked for some.  The sewing room got a clean up 

Work has progressed on the crocheted squares to make the window covering for the sewing room

And I made more progress on the Scrub Stitchin project ...... and I did work out what to do with my Number Chookshed Challenge project but it is awaiting material to get it to the next stage so you will have to wait for photos of that one

My medal arrived showing the 1483.11kms I managed to walk during 2024.  I'm hoping to improve on this for '25.  Note that this is not daily steps but dedicated logged walks!  Lucy should have one as well lol

So that's a wrap for January ........ And now its February ...... Today being Dads birthday which has been a little sad but also happy since he really had not wanted to be celebrating another birthday - instead he celebrates in Heaven .

Today was Apron making ........  My own pattern that I have used for years ..... The newspaper pattern I cut out is yellow with age and this is the 3rd one I think I had to renew .... the date on the newspaper is from 2012 lol

Until next time, Hugs and Prayers to you all my friends - May Gods Blessings be upon you.

Hugs Sharm

A Mid- Week Treat

 

The Tram Cafe

Finally, after all the dramas of the past few months I managed to book a train ticket and headed down to Melbourne for a couple of days with my sewing retreat buddy, Christine (MacDonalds Patch Blog)! We’ve been talking about doing this since we went on our road trip last April to Scrub Stitchin up at Baradine……. And we plan to do it again so part of the “reason” for the this trip was to sit together and work out out road map and over night stays…… which was fun and motels are now booked ready! 

Years ago we used to live in the area around here so it was fun to enjoy doing some walks …… we even had a nice stop over at the Tram Cafe they now have in Diamond Creek and enjoyed a hot chocolate 

A stop at the opp shops where I picked up this cute little tin ……. And I also found some lovely writing pads at the “cheap” shop for my snail mails.  I still have a just a couple of friends whom we share snail mails with and it’s always sooo much fun to see one arrive in the mail box. I wait to make a cuppa and sit down in a nice quiet spot so I can read and enjoy all there news.  Letter writing is something I started with my Grandmother when she used to write letters to me as a young girl, and then when I was a young mum living in Melbourne and she was living in Brisbane we would write letters to each other all the time - even though we also had a phone chat once a week or once every couple of weeks.  At one stage I had a whole group of ladies writing and we even had lots of circle letters (robins) going back and forth …..unfortunately with social media began taking over for many of them as well as other changes …….thankfully I have 2 ladies in Australia who write now and then and another in USA. Those letters take around a month to get from me to her and vice versa (snail mail indeed lol) .  I’m hoping to find another couple of ladies interested in this old art of letter writing to bring back some of the slow paced enjoyments - let me know if this interest you.

The Mad Hatters Tea Party 

Back to my mid week treat …….. I’ve had lots of fun talking sewing and projects with Christine.  We took a day trip - first stopping at a Felt shop which had some amazing items like the Tea Pot above .... and I may have purchased some felt to make a Lupin Rabbit lol ...... next a quick stop in at Spotlight for a bit of lace and then on to Gail B …… I've never been there and WOW ..... What a sight to behold as you walk in .....

And it just keeps on going .........

Of course I came out with some goodies ................. So I have lots to keep me occupied - and then some lol

Of course no outing is complete without coffee and cake .... or in this case scones ...... which was had at a lovely nursery in Warrandyte

Such a pretty place with a little bridge to walk over the duck pond up to the cafe sitting on the hill overlooking all the ducks and the pond

We had the best time!

Molly

 And finally I got to meet Rex and Molly who I'd heard so much

 about - they were so friendly and
excited to have me staying over for a couple of nights.

Rex

Rex decided this was a great way of letting me know he was up for a treat lol

I've also decided that being in an outer Melbourne suburb has just as many native animals and birds around as we do here in the country!  In fact, I'm almost wondering if they have more lol ..... here is a group (mob) of kangaroos enjoying breakfast whilst people were walking and cycling by on the walking path not far from where they were!

Thanks Noel and Christine for having me come to stay!  I had a ball!

And when I arrived home Pete had organised the delivery of stuff to make a carport for our cars to keep them a bit cooler during these 40+ C degree days and also during the winter months to keep the frost off!   

After spending the morning helping me with the cleaning and washing, Lucy felt it was time to go out and supervise with Pete lol  Meantime I'm off to go play with some sewing ..... or crochet .....

The Time Before ……

 That time before you have to go back to work comes to an end today ….sigh!  Still it’s been productive on the crafting front even with all this hot weather …….we got up to 42 Celsius here today!!! I started working on the embroidery section from the scrub stitchin project 

I’ve been doing lots of plotting and planning for a number of projects …….I want to make KORE and have made a start on it in the lime green Aurora Yarn from Bendigo ….this is the pattern 

Pete came up with the idea that making a high cushion that we can pop the dog bed on in the Ute might make it a bit better for Lucy so she can see what’s going on ……I’ve taken a couple of old pillows and am in the process of of sewing them together to make said cushion.  I plan to have a cover that I can remove for washing as needed and it’s a curtain fabric with that backing that should help protect the cushion to a degree.  I’ll likely add something to it so the dog bed can sit without coming off when we go around a corner …..   

It still needs to have the closure studs sewn on and then the finishing bits but here it is with the cover over it ........  and it fits in the ute so it should work ...... we shall see in due time

You might notice its leaning against a "new" piece of furniture in the sewing room/ craft Dungeon ...... a pick up from a friend as we thought it might have worked in the lounge but nope ....... but it does work in the dungeon now I have moved the filing cabinets out ..... and it gives me extra counter area as you can see for projects

see Number 6 project laid out on it 

Here is said furniture piece .......

And above laid out on it is the project for the Chookshed Challenge this month .......Number 6 was pulled out ........ the pieces of signed fabric for Staceys long awaited Bridal Shower something ...... which I've now decided will be a wall hanging ...... unsure exactly how its going to go but its "under construction" at present ...... I'll show more later in the month

Here is my messy table with all the plotting, planning and various projects for current knitting and crochet ....... stay tuned!

Wish me luck as I head back to work tomorrow - 3 days this week so not full time, but oh how it interferes with life at home!!

Hugs

Sharm

Challenge Planning - 2025

It's time to get ready for planning for Creativity for 2025!!  This time every year I get sooooo inspired, but for the past few years by the time it's gotten to May I'm trudging through the ditches ...SO This year it's time to get things back on track, how they used to be about a decade ago!  Lets Begin with joining in with Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts who will be once again running the ChookShed Challenge :)

Last year I had 3 lists - this year I'm doing 2 lists (I think) - one for Sewing related and one for Yarn related.  The decluttering list from last year is on a separate page and still being worked on, so it can just continue as is!

I'll also add my list to my sidebar to make it easier to find during the year .......

SEWING:

1.  Trifles Quilt

2. Fusion Quilt (sewing and crochet involved)

3. Blocks for Hen House Quilt/ or blocks for the Kiwi Birds Quilt

4. Dog Cushion for the Ute so Lucy can see out (this may have to be moved to the first on the list)

5. I Spy Quilt / Embroidery Item

6. Staceys long awaited Bridal Shower Wall Quilt

7. Xmas Stitchery

8. Giraffe or other stuffed toy/animal

9.  An item for the gift bag

10. Choose one of the above or a bright shiny newbie or another UFO hiding away

KNITTING/ CROCHET:

1. Crochet Top WIP (for which the name currently alludes me and I'm too lazy to go find it)

2. Kore (This will hopefully become the OWL  for advanced studies in term1 of HPKCHC)

3. Sandswirl Mitts / straightforward mitts

4. Artus - WIP barely started and with lots of graphs to try to follow

5. Goldenfern Sweater - WIP with its yarn currently hiding from me somewhere!!!

6. Some sort of Dragon inspired crochet blanket for LJ (eldest grandson) for his 21st birthday - possibly inspired by Threefold crochet blanket by the Crochet Swirl)

7. Elio the Dragon / or Emotional Support Chicken/ Tina Turtle Pincushion (see Ravelry for patterns)

8. Crochet Curtain for Sewing Room Window

9. Socks - (I'd like to get at least 3 pairs knitted over the year)

10. Dishcloths or working on any of the above.

NB:  Many of the knitted/Crochet items on the list will need to be worked on throughout the year so may feature alongside whatever number is going for the month.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

As for other Challenges:

I need both to loose weight and to try for 10,000 steps / day ...... and a photo each day might be fun - this will likely be another page added to this blog

Then there will be the Ravelry Group HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knit & Crochet House Cup) - this will involve a 2-3 month challenge (OWL ) for which I'm hoping my proposal for KORE will be accepted. I have the yarn and have swatched and need to wait until the "GO" date 

This is the pattern

There will also be other challenges during the first 3 months yet to be advised but based around crafting so hopefully most of my listed items will get a chance to feature here as well!

And that should do me for challenges for 2025!!!  Real Life may interrupt at times, but I'm hopeful to work a way around that moving forward!!

Big Thankyou to Deana for hosting the Chookshed Challenge once again!

December Round Up

Knitting and Crochet Finishes for 2024

Well, it's certainly been a year, but then for me (and Hubby), it's actually been a heck of a decade!! Rather than rehash all the stuff from the past 10 years, I'd rather just share what I've been doing these past couple of weeks as I begin to look for a new rhythm for the next year - the next decade!  There will always be troughs and valleys in the road,  wastelands to trudge and rivers to swim through which make the mountain tops all that much sweeter when you can stand there for a short time and enjoy the view.  For this next decade I'm hopeful to find Bridges to cross the valleys, boats to cross the rivers and a train for getting across the wastelands with some extremely long term accommodation on the mountain tops................   Yeah, dreaming again lol

Above are my Knitting/Crochet finishes for 2024 ..... unfortunately I seem to have more WIPs for Sewing than I do fiished with just this double sided  baby blanket completed - although I'm pretty sure I finished one for Mila as well ?? This one went to Abbie to snuggle under

I've been enjoying reading another book by Dilly Court . Christine introduced me to these books

when we were on sewing retreat last year at Scrub Stitchin and during the year I've been lucky enough to pick up  titles from various Opp Shops and Second Hand Bookstores in the local area! 

We will be doing another road trip this year to attend Scrub Stitchin up at Baradine and are currently planning a catch up sometime in January to work on details lol We had such fun last year, we want to make the most of it again this next year.  In the meantime, I've pulled out the stitchery we received whilst there and I'm working on getting all the embroidery done before we head back - who knows, it might even get put together but we shall see!

  I was working on it during a recent Zoom meeting with some of the others from the Chook Shed,

and then I worked on it a bit more the following morning with a zoom that was being hosted by one of the Ravelry Groups....... And AGAIN this morning  when a number of girls from OS were on ...... During which I might add was mentioned the Chook Shed Challenge for 2025! So I need to get a list made up - last year I had 3 lists - I'm not sure yet what this years list or lists will look like lol

But here is my progress on my stitchery..............

I briefly mentioned the Harry Potter Cup Group in my last post and I'm excited to be part of it as I feel it's going to help get a few more projects sorted out this year.  I know it sure helped me get inspired again to get back to some sewing as well as knitting over November and December.  They have a number of challenges going on at any one time which you can choose to take part in or not .... but if you are "sorted by Sir Hat ...... into one of the groups ...... then the challenges provide points to the houses and each term, points are added up to see which house wins the House Cup! It's virtual points ect, but the story lines that go into it all are simply amazing, as are the number of moderators who assist! The houses are all made up of craft loving people from around the world so the Houses are not like the characteristics in the books so to speak.    I'm extremely happy to have been sorted into a house and made it into Slytherin where I have managed to fit right in with my wacky sense of humour..........  

Lucy and I continue to do our daily walks - I can't really get out of them since she is looking for them each morning - although some morning walks are longer than others depending on the weather and what I want to get done that morning! 

There was also chatter on the Chook Shed Zoom of challenging ourselves to at least a 10 min walk each day ...... while that's not a problem for me with Lucy and her built in watch ....... I might attempt to "step things up" this year and go back to aiming for 10,000 steps/ day ....... I'll try to keep track on that!  I also saw somewhere a "photo a day" which I'm thinking about ....... I have till tomorrow to decide lol

 How can you resist this face ....... lol

I'm currently making a list of all my WIP's and UFO's that are sitting in various stages of completion - they need to be sorted so I can see what I actually want to work on and ditch any that I am totally over!  Apart from that, I also have projects that I would very much like to make this year, and then there are items that will be made simply because they need to replace things or they are required for gifting and such.  Already I know I have way more on my list than is realistic, and that's before any "bright new shiny" items catch my attention!!!  So off I go to work on my 2025 ChookShed Challenge List  ....... Stay Tuned!

 

Getting back to things…..

 The past few weeks I have to admit to having felt like something one of the Harvesting machines had run over and spit out the other end!  

  The stormy sky captures it well  ( it’s actually one of our friends farms over in Boorhaman attempting to get the wheat in before the storms a couple weeks ago) …….

Dads service was here in Corowa and live streamed and then Stacey, Kathy & I took his ashes back to Brisbane to be buried.  I’ve made a start on the paperwork side of things and hope to get quite a bit sorted while I’m on Christmas leave from work.

Pete got the slate sealed on the hearth which looks great …… the flue still needs to go through the roof and be sealed but that needs to wait till about March now when the weather is cool enough to be able to sit on a tin roof cutting holes and sealing the flue in!! It’s looking good from in here at least ….

And I am able to finally report that the Down the Rabbit Hole Quilt has FINALLY been completed  and is now in use on the bed!  What a shame I hadn’t realised that the outer borders should not have followed the pattern placement - since on a bed the outer borders are upside down on the parts where you see them ….but oh well - I can live with it! 

Whilst on Ravelry in the harsh weeks of November whilst working on Eulogies and service brochures and dealing with the various family personalities ( and wishing I was a hermit) …..I was lucky enough to stumble upon a group that is based around Harry Potter - now while I’m probably one of the few people yet to see all the films & have never read the books - the group is set up with soooo many activities / crafting challenges and so on and so forth that it was just what I needed to take my mind elsewhere and do some small bits of crafting …..in fact it’s what got me inspired to actually finish the binding on the quilt! 

Currently working on a colourwork sock no1 of the pair

My nook of sanity

And I should include saying Thankyou to Wendy over at 

Sugarlane Designs for hosting Friday Sew Ins during the year ……my linking is not working on the iPads so I’ll try to fix it later on the laptop ……… I'm Currently working on a sock but I need to pull out the many WIPs and use the days over Christmas to think about any particular crafting projects I’d like to work on ……after all, it won’t be too long away before it’s time for Scrub Stichin again!!! OH, how I’m looking forward to that!!! I’m also excited for the road trip that Christine & I will make again on our way up there and back!! 

Pete and I will be spending Christmas Day by ourselves here with Lucy to keep us company.  Stace & John will be in Melbourne and the Townsville Crew will be up there.  As for the eldest son - unfortunately that’s a touchy subject best left in Gods hands. 

I had to take a trip to Narrandera last week for the Team Meeting for work and managed to arrive a little early so I could get to the sewing shop there just as it opened ...... I didn't think I was getting anything until I was about to walk out of the shop and my love of all things chook related stopped me in my tracks!!!   And then it came home with me ........ And will be on my list of projects for next year without a doubt lol

So with only a couple of days left till Christmas Day - I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas 

RIP Dad

 On Saturday 2nd November Dad passed away.  We had a few days with him palliating as he grew weaker which gave time to be able to contact various family and for my step sister Kathy to fly over from New Zealand.  Both Kathy and I were with him as he took his final breath.  He was 95 years and 9 months old!

I've been busy getting things together for a service for him.  He has gone for cremation and the service will be held on Monday 25th November at Corowa.   We will take his ashes up to Brisbane as per his request and they will be buried in the plot at Hemmant Cemetery on Thursday 28th November.

These were a couple of photos taken of him in the Nursing Home over the past couple of months - where he had more enjoyment than he would ever let on lol

Dad always used to get a thrill out of the blog books we were able to get printed from our blogs ...... what a shame that is no longer available to us.

A big thankyou to those who have been in contact.  Unfortunately I totally lost my voice 3 days after he passed away after a very stressful week prior.  It has gradually come  back, but still not quite there - although I seem to have developed a terrible cough!  Let's just say I will be glad to see December after quite a trying year!   It already seems strange not having to head over to see Dad or check on things for him ect.  I expect after the past 10 years of having to do so much for him, that's to be expected!

Anyhow Dad - You are now at peace and at rest - Home at Last in God's loving arms. xo